Make
your
Mark

Make your Mark is our newest programme, and has been created to boost attainment for less advantaged students.

The programme was developed using research evidence and school leader insights, and drew on our last three years of experience delivering The Brilliant Tutoring Programme as an official tuition partner of the National Tutoring Programme.

Academic attainment gaps persist between more and less advantaged students. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these disparities and widened the gap, which could take many years to close. Students from less advantaged backgrounds are 18 months behind their more advantaged peers by the time they take their GCSEs. Small group tutoring is one of the evidence-based approaches proven to improve student attainment.

Make your Mark aims to boost the attainment of Year 10 students, via 12 hours of small group tutoring. Tutorials focus on the English or maths curriculum and embed study strategies throughout. Our tutors are current undergraduate students from our partner universities who have undergone rigorous assessment and undertaken our high-quality training.

From January-July 2023, we ran a pilot with the University of Sussex in schools across the South Coast. Our pilot data has shown that the programme increases students’ curriculum subject knowledge, meta-cognition, and academic self-efficacy.

In 2023-24, we are delighted to be running Make your Mark programmes in collaboration with the University of Sussex, Greater Manchester Higher and Arden University.

 

 

The programme – how it works

  • Selected Y10 pupils participate in 12 tutorials in groups of six
  • Twelve tutorials are delivered in a hybrid format: eight online and four in person.
  • Students study either an English or maths course, with study skills embedded throughout
  • The programme concludes with a celebration event at the partner university
  • Each school receives an end of programme impact report with pupil level analysis.
  • The programme runs in collaboration with a local partner university, with whom costs are split.
  • Every school has a designated Programme Officer to provide end-to-end logistical support.

Student selection

We set student targeting criteria in collaboration with our university partners. As standard, we will ask that at least 80% of pupils registered on the programme fulfil at least one of the following criteria:

  • Pupil premium eligible
  • No parental history of higher education
  • Deprivation according to postcode: IDACI 1 – 4

Getting involved – schools

We currently only run the programme in schools where we have a local partner university signed up (in contrast to The Scholars Programme, which runs nationally). Please email us to register your interest via the button below and our team will be in touch.

Getting involved – universities

If you are at a university in the UK and are interested in the Make your Mark programme, you can find out more here. We’d love to hear from you – please email us via the button below to start the conversation.

Getting involved – tutors

When we have a partnership with a particular university confirmed, we will advertise the opportunity for undergraduate students attending that university to apply to become a Make your Mark tutor.